Yes, in most cases you can, and chances are you will pass through the US Virgin Islands anyway: most of our guests fly into St Thomas and take the ferry or a water taxi across to their boat in the BVI. So the real question is not how to get there. It is whether your yacht should pick you up on the US side and cruise USVI waters, or whether you cross by ferry and keep the whole charter week in the BVI.
Two things hold most weeks to BVI-only: not every catamaran is licensed to charter on both sides, and the BVI alone already fills 7 days, so USVI stops stretch the itinerary. Where a combo genuinely earns its place is on longer charters, for returning guests who know the BVI loop and want new islands, and on faster motor yachts with the speed to add miles without losing days. Here is what each island offers, how we shape a combo week, and the licensing and clearance your broker handles in the background.
St John: the island the crossing is really for
About 2 thirds of St John is Virgin Islands National Park, and it feels like it. In most park waters you pick up an NPS mooring buoy, currently $26 per night, and the bays stay noticeably quieter than the BVI’s famous anchorages even in high season.
The names you will recognize: Trunk Bay, the beach from all the photos. Maho Bay, where turtles graze in the seagrass under your boat. Honeymoon Beach and Waterlemon Cay for snorkeling straight off the swim platform, and Cruz Bay if you want an evening ashore. One mooring night off the north shore gives you a taste. Two lets you slow down to park speed.
St Thomas: your starting point, not a detour
St Thomas has far more flights than the BVI, so on most combo weeks you are not crossing over to see it, you are boarding there. You land, board at the marina in Charlotte Amalie, and you are usually underway the same afternoon. Our guide to getting to the BVI covers the flight logic.
The one St Thomas stop worth planning on the way out is Christmas Cove, an easy first-night mooring where a floating boat delivers pizza to your swim platform. After that, St John and the BVI pull the week east.
The USVI side is also the only place a yacht’s own jet skis can legally go in the water; here is how jet skis work on a BVI charter.
Four ways to shape the week
The taster. A standard BVI loop with 1 night off St John on either end. You give up almost nothing in the BVI and still get the national park morning.
The split. Roughly half the week on each side: St John’s north shore and Christmas Cove first, then across to Jost Van Dyke, Norman Island, and the Baths. This is the version for groups who want the USVI to be a chapter, not a footnote.
The round trip from St Thomas. Board and finish in St Thomas with a full BVI loop in between. Our 7-day USVI to BVI itinerary runs this exact shape day by day.
The all-USVI week. If someone’s passport is expired, do not force a combo. US citizens need no passport for a USVI-only charter, and St Thomas plus St John fill a week easily. The money works like any crewed week; see what a crewed charter costs.
Broker insight
St Thomas to West End is about 2.5 hours on the water, then roughly an hour at customs. On a full week that is nothing. On a 4 or 5 day charter it eats your best day, which is why we plan the crossing for first thing in the morning.
Daniel Asmus
Owner, Charter Broker, Active CYBA Member, IYBA, ECPY
Can you get to St Croix too?
Usually not inside a 1-week combo, honestly. St Croix lies about 35 to 40 miles south of St Thomas across open ocean, so it is a committed passage rather than a lunchtime hop, and most crews will not fold it into a week that also wants the BVI.
On a longer charter, or as its own trip, it is worth the run. Our brokers rate St Croix’s food scene as the best in the USVI, Buck Island Reef National Monument protects some of the Caribbean’s healthiest snorkeling, and the hiking on the wild northwest coast is dramatic. There is no standing route there: we ask boats individually whether they will make the passage. If St Croix matters to you, say so in your first email and we will build around it.
The paperwork, in one section
Everyone on board needs a valid passport, children included. Each crossing means clearing out of one territory and into the other: you stay on the boat while the captain goes ashore with the passports, most of it filed in advance through the BVI’s online embarkation card and CBP’s ROAM app on the US side. Plan a morning for each crossing.
The fees are small against the charter price. The BVI cruising tax is currently $16 per person per day for boats based outside the BVI, against $6 for BVI-based boats, plus a $10 environmental levy per person on entry. These rates have changed several times recently, so we confirm the current numbers for your dates.
Licensing between the two territories has become more complicated in recent years, and not every boat can legally charter on both sides. The good news is that plenty of yachts are still fully licensed for both, and finding them is your broker’s job, not yours. We shortlist only boats whose crossing rights are confirmed in writing, and our guide to BVI-based vs USVI-based yachts explains how a boat’s base shapes your week.
Broker insight
Some crews only confirm late that they cannot enter the USVI, and then your pick-up quietly moves to the BVI side. We get the boat's crossing paperwork confirmed in writing before you pay a deposit, not after.
Chris de Kock
Charter Broker, Sales Broker, Active CYBA Member
Because the dual-licensed pool is smaller, and boats based outside the BVI are capped at 7 BVI entries a year, combo weeks book earlier than standard ones. Booking 6 to 12 months out keeps the full shortlist open, and winter holiday calendars close first. Non-US passport holders should talk to us early: arriving in the USVI by yacht has different visa rules than flying in.
Tell us which stops you want
Send us 3 things: the stops on your wishlist, whose passports are current, and your dates. We come back with boats that can legally do the trip you actually want, with the clearance plan already built into the itinerary.
If this is your first charter, the booking side is the same simple process we walk through in how the whole charter process works: one boat, one crew, one bill, no surprises at the dock.
People also ask
Do we need passports for a BVI and USVI combo week?
Yes. Everyone on board, including children, needs a valid passport, because US citizens must carry one to enter the BVI. A passport card is not enough for the combo week: it only covers re-entering the US by sea, and the BVI leg still requires the full passport book. We confirm the exact document rules for your group before you book. If someone cannot get a passport in time, ask us about a USVI-only charter instead; US citizens do not need a passport for a purely USVI trip.
Which USVI stop is best from the BVI?
St John, by a wide margin. It is the closest to the BVI, about 2 thirds of it is national park, and one night on an NPS mooring off the north shore fits into almost any BVI week. St Thomas is usually your start and end point rather than a stop, with Christmas Cove as the exception worth planning.
Can we visit St Croix on a BVI charter?
Usually not within a 1-week combo: St Croix is a 35 to 40 mile open-ocean passage south of St Thomas. On a longer charter, or as a dedicated USVI trip, yes. There is no standing route, so we ask boats individually whether they will make the run.
Can any BVI boat charter in the USVI?
No. Licensing has become more complicated in recent years: some boats can only pick you up in the USVI without cruising there, and others cannot cross at all. Plenty of yachts are still fully licensed for both territories, though, and that is what your broker is for. We confirm a specific boat’s crossing rights in writing before you book.
